A Mental Health & Lifestyle Blog

Saying Goodbye to Filters

I never used to hate my face.

It’s not the best but it’s not the worst and over many years I grew to accept it, despite every airbrushed face in the media reminding me how imperfect it was. That all changed when Snapchat and Facetune and Snow came along, and showed me just how different I could look.

Every photo I took I was always the Disney version of myself: all big eyes and smooth skin and slim jaw. Everything I didn’t like about myself I could change at the click of a button – fuller lips, sure! Smaller nose, no problem!

It reached a point where not only did I hate seeing photos of myself without filters, but that I also worried what people would think if they saw me in real life and realised I didn’t look like that. Social media fuels this, and it’s one of the things I dislike so much about Instagram. Even on Twitter there are girls with the most beautiful avatars with flawless skin and amazing make up. I can’t do make up – I never have been able to. Give me a lipstick and an eyeliner and that’s as far as my skills go. This means that I can’t ever really do anything to change my appearance in real life either. What you see is what you get.

Seeing so much around now from people like Jameela Jamil talking about how using these filters and editing apps makes us complicit in the problem was a big thinking point for me, and I’ve been mulling it over a lot. I don’t want to misrepresent myself and I don’t want other girls and women to look at photos of me and feel like they have to look a certain way, because in actual fact I don’t even look that way myself.

This week I changed my Twitter photo – this might not seem like a big deal but I think it’s the first time I’ve ever used an unfiltered and unedited photo as my avatar. I am also trying to be more transparent on Instagram when my self esteem allows me to, and I’ve definitely used a lot more photos of myself as they come over the last week.

Will I still take photos of myself with cat ears and stupid glasses? Obviously. But I wont be editing my face anymore. That’s not who I want to be and it’s not how I want others to perceive me. So here I am. Filter free, makeup free and edit free.

I hope maybe some of you gain the confidence to show your true selves if it’s something you’re struggling with.

Cara the thing that bothers me is the media they are by far the worst culprits of this for years and years, taking very naturally beautiful people (men as well) and making them an impossible version of themselves.
Youngsters who pick up these magazines, see billboards, see pictures on social media and see people in films feel so bad about themselves that they then develop eating disorders (in some cases, not all) have to edit every photo of themselves.
The last photo my family ever got of me was a school photo I hate having my photos taken and usually I am never in them or group photos I’ll take them so as not to be in them.
The worst thing about this whole subject is people that are naturally stunningly beautiful like you think you’re anything but that it makes me so sad that people feel this way about themselves, the world needs to see people for who they are!!

I’m really glad you did this. I’m really insecure about my appearance – I’m trans and constantly looking at my face in the mirror and worrying I don’t look feminine enough – and seeing people’s hyper-perfect profile pictures doesn’t help. You look beautiful anyway, but now you look beautiful and real. Also, I’d just like to say you’re an awesome human being – it’s so inspiring how you’ve not let your problems defeat you and now you’re helping others.

Thank you so much that’s lovely! It’s so easy to get sucked into it isn’t it, but just try to remember that most people don’t look how they appear on social media and nod are their lives as perfect as they appear! We all pay so much more attention to how we look than how other people look 💗

You are beautiful! I must admit now I’m getting older I’ve started using filters more (wrinkles, arrgh…) I will try and embrace the ageing process and not use them! My Twitter profile pic is unfiltered, but the way I posed it with the sun behind me is kind of like a filter in itself… Food for thought!

This is the problem as I see it, the both of you are absolutely stunning!! You’re both so beautiful!!
Society and media have plastered airbrushed images all over the place not only children, teenage girls, thinking they are not perfect but young women in their twenty-something’s basically anyone.

Way to go, Cara! I’m so proud of you. You don’t need filters – you are beeeeeautiful. But I know that’s easier for me to say than it is for you to believe. Nevertheless, I think this is a great move for you and is a wonderful example to set.

Thanks alot for sharing your honesty here. I don’t always use filters. I think I got a bit addicted to them in Instagram more then anywhere else lol. Although my current Facebook photo used a Filter I think it helped me feel good. I don’t really think about whether I should use one or not. It’s more because I like experimenting with them. I do think though that we should all appreciate and love ourselves filters or not. So this post definitely has a powerful and positive message.

Your unedited, unfiltered, natural self is beautiful & I’m so glad you learnt that about yourself. I went through a similar learing curve – I wasn’t big into filters but would strategically crop all online photos of myself to just head & boobs so nobody could see the fupa or rolls, & that’s not me in real life! Well done for being you. x

This is a popular thread. I mentioned a few days earlier the following words “Is there any girl on Tinder who isn’t using filters” Last time I was on Tinder, I met girls who had completely used filters to feign appearance. It’s disappointing because the natural look is best.
I love the natural look and I think that more women should #DumpTheFilters